Upcycled DIY.
/First and foremost, I wanted to let you know that we have finally decided on a name for our baby girl!
Etta Jayne Head
We chose Etta (meaning "little one" or "pearl") after Trice's great grandmother and Jayne (meaning "God's gracious gift") after my grandmother. Isn't that sweet? We think it's perfect for our girl!
People keep asking if we are going to call her Etta or Etta Jayne. Our intentions are to call her Etta Jayne, but who knows? I'll probably end up calling her Etta most days, seeing how I already tend to shorten Emerson's name to "Em" or "E" -- unless he is misbehaving :)
Other names on the docket were Ella Grace and Eloise ("Ellie") Kate, which both would have been JUST as beautiful, but they definitely would not have carried the sentiment that Etta Jayne carries. It is really neat to think that Etta Jayne is the name that God knows her by too! He knew her name before we did. I love that!
In other news, I wanted to share a short DIY project that I whipped up in literally 5 minutes.
Trice always pokes fun at me because I don't ever throw away any containers or glass jars. I always tell him that "ONE DAY" I am going to find a perfect use for each and every container! And so far he has appreciated it because we use recycled containers for so many things around the house! Why not recycle the jars that our foods come in instead of dropping money on glass vases and canisters, etc? Next time you go to buy a jar of salsa, just think to yourself, "I am not only buying salsa, but I'm also buying the perfect apothecary jar or vase!" It's like a 2-for-1 deal. And I LOVE 2-for-1 deals!
Anyway, we bought fresh basil the other day and we had no pot to plant it in. So I went over to my pantry and VOILA! There was a pickle jar. It had of course been cleaned and allowed to air out. I grabbed some potting soil, added a little water and threw the basil plant in. And then of course, being the labeler that I am, I had to make a little sign for it. And "Basil" just didn't cut it. So we went with "Mr. Basil". Isn't that a cute, easy project? Now I'm just praying that the Good Lord helps me not to KILL the plant. Because I haven't had the best luck in the past!
Mr. Basil :)
A few other recycled container examples from around our house include the following:
1. Large Vlasic pickle jar as flower vase. Trice had the fun idea of dying the water red for this particular bunch of flowers. Dying the water is a great idea because it prevents the water from looking murky within a day or two. What a genius!
Vlasic pickle jar flower vase - excuse the green cup!
2. PANTRY!! I am a canister freak. I love having our food in clear containers instead of multicolored bags and boxes. And now that we buy all of our snacks in bulk, keeping empty containers has definitely come in handy! One day, my entire pantry will be full of nicely labeled clear containers full of goodies! On that day, I will be sure to post a blog :) But here is what I have so far.
Applesauce jar for black beans -- I will eventually spray paint that lid. When I get around to it :) The big lidded canisters are from IKEA. And the little jar holding the granola is a mystery to me...
Hinged canisters from Dollar Tree. Upcycled Market Pantry trail mix containers for pretzels and dark chocolate - still need to remove the label on the big one. HUGE Jelly Belly container for some other dried yummies -- and yes, I will probably spray paint that lid too!
3. Old wine bottles in a particular color palette (of course I chose green) can be clustered together to make a precious table centerpiece or accent piece on a shelf. I like to put photo strips in ours :)
Bottle cluster on my office shelf.
Well, that's it for today. I hope the rest of your day is FANTASTIC! And remember, next time you are at the grocery store, let your eyeballs see beyond the jars of applesauce and trail mix containers and see the fun DIY projects that are awaiting you :)